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Operation: Endgame
2010; directed by Fouad Mikati

On the surface, Operation: Endgame seems to have come straight from the mind of schizophrenic Hong Kong film-makers like Wong Jing, with plenty of toilet humor, over-the-top violence, and eye candy from the lead actresses (in this case, B-level Hong Kong star Maggie Q), offering up tons of fun for your stereotypical testosterone-filled beer-swilling good ol' boy. Unfortunately, first-time director Fouad Mikati tries to stuff too much into the mix, and the movie suffers as a result.

The basic setup of the film has two competing teams of government assassins trapped in their headquarters, which has been rigged to blow in an hour. So not only must the killers find a way out, they must also contend with their rivals in battles to the death. To this end, since their boss prohibits weapons in the HQ, the agents have to get their MacGuyver on and improvise implements of death with whatever they can find lying around in the office.

Operation: Endgame

This "outside the box" approach to the usual "killer versus killer" setup results in Operation: Endgame's best moments. Seeing combantants armed with unconventional weapons like a paper cutter, staple remover, or, my personal favorite, flaming putter, leads to some viscerally exciting fight scenes, especially since Mikati isn't shy to throw in a couple of buckets of blood for good measure. Combined with rapid-fire, foul-mouthed, and very funny bon mots espoused by the characters (Rob Corddry's alcoholic burnt-out agent being the prime example) the first hour or so of Operation: Endgame is good dumb fun for the whole family.

However, matters unravel in the movie's third act, where too many twists are thrown in simply for the sake of having them in an attempt to make the film seem deeper and more meaningful than it really is. There's also an overabundance of painfully obvious left-wing leaning political opinions -- by 2010, it wasn't exactly a bold insightful move to say that Dubya's presidency wasn't all that great. Mikati should have followed the old rule of KISS: keep it simple, stupid. He had a solid ensemble cast and a good idea. There is nothing wrong with "simply" being a good action/comedy, and if Mikati had kept Operation: Endgame's focus towards that, the end product would have more than likely been a better and more enjoyable motion picture.

RATING: 4

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